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EDMONTON — Peter Lougheed, who muscled Alberta onto centre stage in this country in the 1970s and 80s, won by a landslide in a national search for Canada's best premier, while Ontario's Bill Davis came in second.

Lougheed, 84, who founded Alberta's 41-year old Progressive Conservative dynasty, ran far ahead of the pack, taking top scores right across the country on leadership skills, including from Ontario experts on the 30-member panel that ranked the premiers, said L. Ian MacDonald, editor of Policy Options, the magazine of the Montreal-based Institute for Research on Public Policy.

"The results were clear and resounding. Lougheed won on all leadership categories and all 30 experts put him in the top five premiers," said MacDonald. "It doesn't get any clearer than that."

Of the 13 panellists from Ontario, 11 chose Lougheed as No. 1 — another signal that Lougheed is "truly a compelling national figure," he said.

Davis, Conservative premier in Ontario from 1971 to 1985 and who occasionally clashed with the Alberta premier, received no votes for the No. 1 spot, but was the consensus choice for second place, said MacDonald.

Lougheed was unavailable for comment Thursday, but he told MacDonald in a recent interview that he was "delighted and honoured" by the results.

Allan Blakeney, former NDP premier of Saskatchewan, came in a close third, while Frank Mckenna, a former Liberal premier, known as a modernizer in New Brunswick, was fourth. Robert Bourassa, a Liberal premier of Quebec, edged out former PQ premier Rene Levesque for fifth spot.

Lougheed, Alberta premier from 1971 to 1985, had a huge impact on the country, for instance, playing a key in resolving the 1981 constitutional logjam by proposing the "notwithstanding clause override," said MacDonald.

"No one has been a bigger a player on the national stage. He defended Alberta and was always a Canadian at the end of the day." MacDonald also noted that provincial premiers played a larger role on the national level 20 years ago as the country grappled with major issues, such as the new Constitution, the National Energy Program and federal-provincial conferences on health care. Subsequent prime ministers have largely done away with first ministers meetings.

To celebrate the IRPP's 40th anniversary, its magazine, Policy Options, decided to undertake the search for the best premier of the last 40 years as a way to recognize the vital role provinces play in the country. Eighteen former premiers (no longer active in politics) were listed for consideration.

The jury of prominent Canadians from all provinces was weighted for population. The panellists rated the 18 premiers on nine leadership categories: vision for their province; ability to win elections; management of provincial finances; managing the economy; building infrastructure; communication skills; relations with fellow premiers; federal-provincial relations; and the extent of their legacy.

On those factors, premiers were assigned points, on a scale of one to five, denoting poor to excellent performance. Lougheed ended up with 130 points, compared with Davis's 84 points, while Blakeney scored 44 and McKenna came in with 37 points and Bourassa, 22.

Ralph Klein, Alberta premier from 1993 to 2006, scored near the bottom on the leadership categories, garnering just seven points — the same score as former Ontario premier Mike Harris. Former Newfoundland and Labrador premier Brian Peckford was awarded nine points, while successor Danny Williams, who just left the premier's office in 2010, scored 18 points.

The lowest scores on the leadership categories went to Sterling Lyon, Manitoba premier from 1977 to 1981 and John Buchanan of Nova Scotia, 1978-90. Both scored zero points.

The list also included Joe Ghiz from Prince Edward Island, Richard Hatfield from New Brunswick, Gary Doer from Manitoba, Roy Romanow from Saskatchewan and Bill Bennett and Gordon Campbell from British Columbia.

Former cabinet minister Allan Warrack, elected in the 1971 Lougheed victory, also said he was pleased Lougheed received this national recognition.

"As a young premier, Lougheed talked making Alberta "a full partner" in Confederation and he achieved that goal," said Warrack in an interview in Edmonton.

Under Lougheed's leadership, for instance, the province gave low-interest loans from the Heritage Fund to cash-strapped provinces, he noted, a concrete sign of the governments' belief in a strong Canada.

Dave King, Lougheed's first research assistant and later a cabinet minister in the Lougheed era, said he was very pleased at the national recognition.

"Lougheed was a great premier and part of his greatness was also he was interacting with other great premiers, " said King, who added this exercise will "encourage people to think about the criteria of leadership."

Lougheed, like other premiers of the era, had a "high" vision for society that included "quality of life," he added.

MacDonald noted that Lougheed left an enduring legacy, including world-class universities, the Heritage Fund and his successful defence of the province's resource revenues from federal intrusion. That earned him admiration across the country.

IRPP will hold a tribute to Lougheed in June 6 at the Palliser Hotel in Calgary.

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